Misty in Hoenn AU
by Kittykat1418
Summary: What if Misty never got the got the phone call to return home, so chose to continue the journey to the Hoenn region with Ash. Though, she gets a surprise when she heads back to Cerulean City to get a change of clothes and sort out her team. But soon enough, she's on the ferry to New Bark Town with Ash. Pokeshipping story, with some Contestshipping in the background. T for battles.


I was requested to do a series where Misty had never gotten the phone call to go home, thus leaving with Ash to go to the Hoenn Region. She does still go home at the end of that sad episode, mostly to pack up so she can meet up with Ash at the ship.

* * *

Having arrived back at Cerulean City with Togepi, she planned to get a change of clothing and leave a couple of her Pokémon to leave space in her team for the trip to Hoenn. She couldn't wait until then, she really wanted to continue her journey with Ash into the Hoenn region. Though, it seemed that Brock wouldn't be joining them due to getting an urgent e-mail to return to Pewter City. The concept of Brock not being with them did leave a sour taste in Misty's mouth, but she choked it back when she remembered that, at least, she would still be with Ash. As expected, her sisters were at the gym and barely doing the job that they were supposed to do.

Unfortunately, something else was happening that would slow Misty's packing up. In the gym room, swimming frantically around the pool was Gyarados. Jumping back a little at the sight of one of her biggest fears, she ran over to her sisters and yelled for an explanation. "Why's Gyarados out of its poké ball?"

"Well, we were like taking care of Magikarp a couple days ago. And it like evolved on us, won't get back in its ball," came the reply from Violet, who seemed less then interested in the Atrocious Pokémon that was swimming around the pool. It also seemed that Daisy and Lily agreed with that very feeling of uninterest.

"This is why I can't leave you to do this job…" Misty grumbled annoyed, before turning to the agitated Gyarados. She shivered in fear, having despised the species since she was a baby. Tilting her head back to her sisters, she asked in a nearly calm voice. "So, how do I get it back into its poké ball?"

"I don't like know," Daisy responded, looking rather bored. "But, it's your gym and thus you should like come up with the solution to this. Otherwise, people won't like come anymore."

"It's supposed to be your gym, I'm on a journey and only returned to get a change of clothes and leave some of my Pokémon." Suddenly a large splash of water hit her and Togepi, causing the egg Pokémon to retract into its shell as Misty groaned. "This is going to be hard…"

Walking to the edge of the pool, she came face-to-face with Gyarados and sighed. "Hey there, big guy. You know, I had been wondering when you'd evolve, but why are you so agitated. Nobody's going to hurt you or mistreat you here," Gyarados lowered its head and blinked at her. "How about you come along with me to the Hoenn region, you don't need to trust me instantly. But it might make you feel better to be in the fresh air as opposed to the gym."

The water/flying type roared, but seemed to agree to what Misty was suggesting. Thus, it allowed the water trainer to return it to the poké ball. "Alright, let's get upstairs and pack, Togepi!"

"Toge-toge!" the little Pokémon squealed, as its trainer ran upstairs. Placing the tiny Spike Ball on the bed, Misty got out some clothes and quickly got changed. Her new clothes consisted of a pale yellow sleeveless vest with a dark blue button and a dark blue collar. Below that was a pair of yellow shorts that matched the vest and orange shoes. Togepi gave a happy cheer to say that it approved of the change of clothes. "Prii!"

"Aww, thanks," the girl smiled, gently ruffling the Togepi's spiky head. "Alright," she got out her poké balls and looked carefully. She had every single poké ball on her, so it countered up to 8 poké balls – discounting Togepi's ball - in total. She wanted to cut that down to only 4, to give two slots for extra Pokémon. "Alright, let's leave Starmie, Politoed, Corsola and Goldeen. Then we'll have Gyarados, Horsea, and Psyduck. Plus, you. So that's five Pokémon. But technically, you don't have a Poké ball yet….so, I'd have two slots left."

"Prii!" came the adorable reply from Togepi, who seemed to agree with Misty's idea. Also, the whole reason that the infant didn't have a poké ball yet was because she wasn't ready to be actively kept within the enclosed containers. Misty had already decided that she would wait until Togepi potentially evolved before she would place her baby in a poké ball.

After picking the Spike Ball Pokémon back up, the tangerine haired girl walked back downstairs and threw the four poké balls into the air. Releasing the four Pokémon that she was leaving at the gym, she waited until they had all landed in the pool. She smiled softly, before kneeling and explaining why to them. "Guys, I'm leaving to the Hoenn region with Ash. But I want to leave space in my party for potential new water types, so I decided of everyone to leave you four as you typically know what you're doing. Maybe you could help my idiot sisters out with their battle potential."

There was a chatter of all four of them, they were agreeing with her decision. Understanding her feelings for Ash and why she would want to continue their journey together. "Thank you, you guys," she smiled. "Alright, have fun. I'm going to get going, Ash is waiting for me," carrying the little Spike Ball in her arms, she ran out of the door. Yelling her goodbyes to her sisters before leaving the gym completely.

Arriving in Pallet Town after a quick train journey, she arrived at the ferry port. Ash, wearing some new clothes, was patiently waiting with Pikachu. "Misty, you're here! The ferry's about to leave, so I was worried that you wouldn't turn up."

"S-sorry," she stuttered, blushing slightly. "I got a hold-up at the gym, so I took me a little longer then I promised."

"Huh, what was the hold-up?"

"Well, you see…" Misty murmured, unsure of how to put the explanation behind her new Gyarados as Ash was one of the few people that she had trusted with the secret of the only water type that she had a crippling fear of. "I'll tell you when we get on the ferry," she sPoké as she began the walk up the ramp. Looking across the sea, she wondered how long it'd be before they reached the Hoenn region and hoped that it wouldn't be long.

Blinking, Ash followed the tangerine haired girl. He couldn't understand why she didn't just tell him then and there. On the ferry was a large pool, which the boy desperately wanted to jump in, but his better judgement prevented him. Continuing, he arrived at Misty's destination of the edge of the ferry as she glanced over the sea. Unable to figure out what she was thinking, he asked his question from before again. "So, what was the hold-up, Mist?"

"Oh…yea…" the girl whispered, remembering about that. She reached into her bag with her spare hand, pulling out Gyarados' poké ball. She gently tossed it upwards and caught it after the red light burst from it and released the Atrocious Pokémon into the waters. It towered above them, roaring as it was releasing. Ash's face was a frame-prefect reaction to the powerful water type, he was clearly thinking of how and why. But there was also a mixture of 'incredible' in there too. Giving a short chuckle, Misty looked up at Gyarados with mildly fearful eyes. It would take her a long time before she could completely relax around her new Pokémon. "Ash, meet Gyarados. It's going to be joining us on our journey to Hoenn."

"So, this was your hold-up?" Ash asked, smiling at the Pokémon with intrigue and interest. "But, I thought you feared this species of Pokémon."

"I…still do…" came the muttered reply, but a nod also came from Misty. "Magikarp evolved into Gyarados during the time we were in Johto, according to my sisters. It was agitated and scaring the other Pokémon in the aquarium," she took a deep breathe before continuing. "So, I made it a huge promise. I would take it to the Hoenn region with me and you, let it explore and have fun. It agreed with me and allowed me to return it to its ball. Thus, its coming with us to Hoenn. Are you fine with that, Ash, Pikachu?"

"Of course!" "Pika-pikachu!" came the dual replies, Ash looked psyched to have a new friend around and Pikachu just seemed to be agreeing with his trainer. "So, who else did you bring with you on this journey? You have way more than six, so I figured you'd leave some behind."

Returning Gyarados, Misty gave a soft smile as she turned back to her secret crush. "I brought Staryu, Psyduck and Horsea besides Gyarados and Togepi. Everyone else, I left back at the gym for the time being."

"But, you've left 2 slots in your team?" came the inquiry that she had expected, giving her a small chuckle as she explained her reasoning for having the extra spaces for new Pokémon to come by in the Hoenn Region. She expected to meet a load of water types as Hoenn had plenty of water for there to be water types swimming within. "Huh, I guess that makes a load of sense. I kind of did the same anyway, I only have Pikachu on me," he gently reached onto his shoulder to pet the yellow and black Mouse-like Pokémon.

"Guess we're both expecting to get new Pokémon in the next region," came the giggled response, which Ash just melted at the adorableness of his female companion. "I wonder what Pokémon we'll meet. Hoenn's a big region, one that's not linked to the Kanto or Johto regions. There could be loads of Pokémon to discover and capture. I bet you can't wait either, Mr Pokémon Master."

"Of course, I can't, Hoenn's the third known region and I can't wait to see if I can win at the Pokémon League this time. Plus, from what I hear. You'd love Hoenn too, as the region is mostly water after the fifth gym. But from what I know right now is that we're heading to Littleroot town, so we're actually going to be nowhere near the first gym."

"So, you'd have to travel around a bit until you make it to the first gym?" Misty asked, quite surprised that she didn't already know this. Though, it was expected as she and Ash had been separated since the day prior."

"Yep, but it gives us a chance to catch Pokémon before then," he then yawned and saw that it was already getting late. "We should head to bed, we going to be on this ship until tomorrow night if we stay on course, so we should rest up and prepare ourselves for the arrival."

* * *

Once they arrived at the beds, they choose a pair of beds situated next to one another. Placing her sleeping Togepi down first, Misty smiled gently as Ash got in with Pikachu curling up next to him. She then began to speak, in a quiet tone to not disturb anyone else in the ferry's nap room. "Good night, Ash, Pikachu."

"Night, Misty. Sleep dreams…" the boy said, before turning over. Soon snoring began, causing Misty to lightly giggle at her crush's antics. Getting into her own bed, she laid down in the direction of Ash's bed and watched him for a bit before closing her eyes and falling asleep as well. Her last thoughts were that she was so glad to be able to continue this journey.

Much later, though they didn't see it immediately, an extendable grabber reached into the nap room and soon grabbed onto Pikachu. The suddenly tightness awoke the electric mouse, causing him to scream out. "Pika!" it was near muffled, but he screamed again as he was dragged to the door. "Pika-Pikachu!"

"Huh, Pikachu?" Ash whispered, unsure at first. He was still drowsy and hadn't quite caught up, but then it hit him like a herd of Tauros. "Pikachu!"

The movement also awoke Misty, who gasped out at the sight of the yellow mouse being kidnapped without much warning. Panicky, she ran after Ash. The boy had already begun his run after his beloved friend and partner. But, upon arriving out of the room, Pikachu and the probably Team Rocket were nowhere in sight. In a frantic state, Ash near ran into the captain and his Machoke. "Ah, Captain. Someone snuck into our room and stole my Pikachu."

"You're kidding?!" though it wasn't an outright question, the captain looked quite shocked by the sound of Pikachu being taken. "Did you happen to see which way they ran?"

"No…we didn't, sir…" Misty whispered response came, she was pale with panic. Much like Ash, she loved Pikachu with all her heart and didn't want him to potentially be taken. "We didn't see anything out of order, we were asleep…"

"Well, we're going to find them," the captain said, computer before beginning to type rapidly. When Ash asked, 'what's that', he replied with. "It's scanning the entire ship, it'll let us know if there are any stowaways that might have stolen your Pikachu," suddenly a red, flashing location appeared on the map. "Ah, the food storage area on the lower deck!"

* * *

Enjoying the taste of victory was Team Rocket, stuffing their face on the food. Pikachu was nearby in an electrical-proof glass case. No matter how much he 'Thunderbolted' the case, it wouldn't open at all as it just sucked up his electricity. Team Rocket soon began to taunt the little Pokémon, wanting him to give up on attempting to escape.

"You let go of Pikachu now!" Ash yelled, arriving with the captain and Misty. Standing behind them was the captain's Machoke and Misty's Staryu.

"You've got some nerve, stealing Ash's Pikachu away from him," the captain responded, looking rightfully annoyed. "Who do you think you are!"

Jessie just chuckled and began her motto. "Prepare for trouble on land, air and sea."

"Make it double, the troubles on me," James continued, giving a prideful smile to match.

"To protect the world from devastation."

"To unite all peoples within our nation."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love."

"To extend our reach to the stars above."

"Jessie."

"James."

"Team Rocket, rides the waves at the speed of light."

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight."

"Meowth! that's right!"

"Wobbuffet!"

Once they finished, it didn't make the situation any better. Misty was generally getting annoyed of having the motto for the zillionth time and Ash wanted Pikachu back. The captain, however, seemed confused and asked. "Who's Team Rocket?"

"I should have known it was you would do something like this," Ash said, angrily.

"Yes, you should have," Jessie called out, near snickering under her breathe.

"Only a good organization like ours could pull this off with zero mistakes," James commented, looking very smug. Meowth gave his agreement to the statement, holding Pikachu's glass cage like it was some sort of prize or something.

"You're wrong about that," the captain replied. "Stealing Pikachu is a big mistake," he suddenly moved into a pose and called out. "Go, Machoke!"

"Arbok, I choose you."

"Come on out, Weezing!"

"Alright, I choose Bayle- "he froze in position of reaching for his non-existent Poké ball, before gasping in horror at the realization that he had left the rest of his Pokémon back at the professor's lab.

"Ash, you left her, remember!?" Misty screeched, worried now. But she turned back to the battle and yelled out. "Staryu, Bubble Beam!"

"Arbok, use Poison Sting!" Jessie suddenly yelled. The Snake Pokémon reared up and began to shot millions of tiny poisoned 'darts' at the Machoke.

"Dodge," the Machoke did as his trainer told him, jumping out of the way of the Poison Sting attack.

"Weezing, Smokescreen!" The smoke attacked blinded the Machoke and Staryu, making them unable to fight any longer. "Alright, Weezing. Tackle!"

The giant, floating two-headed poisonous ball shot forward and slammed into the Machoke at high speed, knocking it into the nearby gray wall. "Arbok, finish it up with Acid!" Jessie yelled, planning to end this. Without needing to be sPokén too, Machoke dodged and the Acid hit the wall instead and began to flood the food storage area.

"Oh no, the water storage tank!" the captain gasped, as water suddenly hit them. It sent them swimming down the torrent of water. Lucky for the captain, Machoke was able to get him out of the water. But Misty and Ash were still being swept away. He ordered the ship to the nearest port to be repaired, as the ruptured storage water tank would be dangerous.

Team Rocket were the first to get out of the water, screaming loudly. Pikachu was still in Meowth's hands, looking worried for his trainer and Misty. Plus, Togepi had been in Misty's arms and it was still only young. Luckily, Ash ran out after them with his hand joined onto Misty's free one. Togepi had retracted into its shell until it realizes they were out of the water. James suddenly pulled a machine out of nowhere and shot a rope onto a nearby crane. It would allow them to swing to shore and escape with Pikachu.

But Ash got lucky, leaping forward and grabbing onto Wobbuffet's tail as they swung. Misty gasped, not having the courage to leap after them, she was now worried for Ash's safety. Jessie, without much care for her Pokémon, asked it to let go of her leg in the 'sweetest' voice she could give to get him to be loyal and get rid of Ash at the cost of his own life. When they hit the crane in their frantic attempts to remove Ash, everyone got separate. Jessie and James with Wobbuffet flew off, Pikachu and Meowth going off nearby. Both groups landed into trucks, that sped off in different directions. Leaving Ash to fall into some crates.

Finally breaking out of the crates, Ash looked worried for Pikachu's safety. He watched as the trucks zoomed off and yelled out. "Pikachu!"

Officer Jenny came over on her bike, looking rather concerned for the boy. "What is it? Tell me. What happened to you?"

"Officer Jenny!" Ash gasped, turning. "It's Team Rocket! They stole my Pikachu and took off before I could catch them.

"They did what!?"

* * *

The truck that Pikachu and Meowth were on suddenly did a sharp turn, shaking the two Pokémon off onto the ground. It effectively broke Pikachu's cage, though he did hit the ground with a loud thud. "Pika…" he whimpered, getting up. Meowth's nose area had turned red from the smack and he too looked worried.

"Now, where am I? What happened?" he said, looking around. Finally noticing Pikachu, he asked. "And what are you doing out of that glass cage?"

"Pika-pika…"

Sometime later, still unsure of where they were, Meowth sorrowfully said. "Here I am, completely lost and all alone. I don't have the foggiest idea where Jess and James are…" sinking down, he continued. "I'm totally unprepared to deal with life's realities…" Suddenly he snapped up, surprising Pikachu with his loud scream of. "This is all your fault, you little yellow pesticide! And I'm holding you responsible for everything, you hear!"

"Pika-Pika!" Pikachu tried to argue, but it didn't seem to calm the Cat Scratch Pokémon down.

Suddenly. "Haunter-haunt!" came a noise from behind them, they turned and saw the middle stage Pokémon known as Haunter.

"This doesn't concern you!" Meowth tried to fight, holding into a pose of courage despite being slightly terrified of the ghost/poison dual type. "If you got a problem, then spit it out and be on your way!"

Haunter suddenly attacked with Night Shade, laughing manically. Luckily, both Pikachu and Meowth dodged the attack. Angrily, Meowth yelled back. "You wouldn't use Night Shade attack for nothing. If it's a fight you want, a fight you'll get!" he reared up his claws and attacked with Fury Swipes, but due to the attack being normal, it did nothing.

"Haunter-haunter-haunter-haunt!" chuckled the opposing Pokémon, using Night Shade once more in response to the attack.

"Pika-Chu!" with a Thunderbolt shooting from his cheeks, Pikachu yelled out loudly. The attack was more useful, hitting the Haunter instead of just passing through. It effectively scared of the Haunter off and allowed Pikachu to drop down relaxed.

"I guess we showed him who the boss really is. Didn't we, Pikachu?" Meowth commented, seemingly smug that the Haunter had ran off. Despite having none done anything that would have helped in the situation. But straight after he said that, a group of 3 Pidgey, 3 Ratatta and 3 Oddish appeared. "Maybe you should show them to…"

* * *

"Alright, are you ready to go, Ash?" Jenny said, looking at Ash. The boy was in her side-car of the bike and was very much ready to Pikachu back.

"You bet I am!"

"Pidgeot, look for Team Rocket from the sky!" the officer said, releasing her flying type Pokémon into the air. "Let's go!"

"Hey, Ash!" at the sound of his name, the boy looked up at the ship to see the captain and Misty looking down at him. "The water tank should all be repaired by nightfall! If you haven't gotten back to the ship by then, we'll have to leave without you, alright?"

"Be careful, Ash!" Misty called, looking incredibly worried for both Ash and the missing Pikachu. In her arms was Togepi, who clearly didn't understand the situation and was cheering happily. "Don't get hurt…for me…and Pikachu!"

"Don't worry, captain. I'm sure I'll be back by then, thanks!" came the reply from the boy in the side-car of the bike. "And Mist, I'll be as safe as I need to be to get Pikachu back in one piece!"

"Let's go, Ash," came the officer's comment.

"Right!"

Speeding faster, the bike began to move forward following the flying Pidgeot in hopes of finding Team Rocket and Pikachu in one piece.

* * *

There was a huge chorus of talking from the 9 Pokémon that had discovered Pikachu and Meowth, they were in a warehouse and seemingly explaining something important to the mouse and cat-like Pokémon. Understanding the situation, Meowth nodded and spoke it out. "Uh huh. Let me see now. So, a bunch of Haunter want to move into the neighborhood and get busy scaring everyone. Being unruly and causing general chaos. Is that about correct?"

"Pika-pika?"

"Rattata-rat-rattata!" one of the three purple mice nodded, saying that it was indeed correct on how Meowth had put it.

"And now you can't even go outside to run around and play anymore? That's terrible," he seemed to actually be upset and angry at the Haunter for doing this to the poor first stage Pokemon. They were still young and new to the Pokemon world after all.

"Rattata…" came the upset reply, the young mouse Pokemon nodded and didn't like not being able to do simple things like run and play anymore.

"You know, you all could fight back at those bullies," Crossing his hands, Meowth tried to think about the possible explanations for why the Pokemon weren't fighting back. "If their troubling you, you should stand up to them cuz that's when tough guys like that back down."

"Pika-Pikachu," nodded the middle stage electric mouse. Having had many experiences with Team Rocket 'bullying' him and Ash, he knew all about getting them to back down.

"Rattata-ratta-rattata!"

"Huh, I didn't realize there were so many…and you're completely outnumbered. I can see how that would make things a lot more difficult!" he was stunned by the fact there were more Haunter then it seemed originally.

"Rattata!"

"Well…that's a Horsea of a different color, I don't know what to do…"

"Pika…" the electric mouse was in the same state of uncertainty as his foe and rival.

Suddenly, one of the three Oddish ran over – it had left prior to find out more about the group of Haunter – and it looked panicked. "Oddish Oddish! Oddish Odd!"

"What did you just say!" Meowth gasped in horror, Pikachu doing the same motion. "Did I hear correctly!? Haunter's gonna get his buddies and come get you all?!"

"Pika!"

* * *

Meanwhile. In their Meowth-shaped hot air balloon, Jessie and James were looking for their missing friend and the escaped Pikachu. A little worriedly, James commented. "That's odd. There's neither hide nor hair of that Meowth anywhere."

Putting her binoculars down briefly, Jessie had an annoyed expression. "Excuse me. But searching for Pikachu is the point of this flight and not Meowth. Remember, we're on a tight schedule and the boss is waiting!"

"Aren't you just a teensy bit worried?"

"Oh please," came the response, full of disgust. "As soon as that stomach on empty, Meowth will be back in no time."

"Well, you have a point."

"Wobbuffet!"

* * *

"Pidgeot!" came the cry of the flying Pokemon that Ash and Jenny were following.

"So, Ash. This Pikachu of yours must mean a whole lot more to you than just another one of your Pokemon. Am I right?" she asked, not looking at him so she could keep a smart eye on the road ahead as well as check in on Pidgeot every now and again.

"Yeah. Pikachu and I have been a team since the very beginning of my journey when we left Pallet Town way back," he thought back on his journey with his beloved partner. "For this journey, I wanted to start all over again. So instead of bringing all of my Pokemon, I decided to come here with only me and Pikachu. Though, my friend Misty and her Pokemon tagged along as well."

Tilting his head down, he sighed and continued. "We've been through everything together and Pikachu is more than my best friend, a whole lot more. So, I've just got to keep looking till we're back together again."

"Pidgeot-to!" the cry caused Ash to look up, clearly the Pidgeot had found something and it could be a sign that he'd be reunited with Pikachu.

"Looks like Pidgeot speeding up!"

"Maybe it's spotted something…" Jenny curiously said. With a quick movement, she turned up the speed and continued. "And if it has then we better speed up ourselves!"

* * *

Back with the Pokemon, they had come across the Haunter from before and it looked angry at them. It began to speak in its laughing-like way. "Haunter. Haunter. Haunter!"

"What!?" Meowth gasped. "You're telling us this is your turf and then we better scram outta here fast?"

"Pika-chu?"

"Hey, pal. We just showed up here by accident, we're not planning on staying," near bowing, Meowth tried to calm the Haunter.

"Pika-Pikachu!" yelled the electric mouse suddenly.

"Excuse me there, Pikachu. But what's with the angry?!"

Moving backwards, Haunter looked more pissed off then prior. "Haunter!"

"Pika! Pika-chu!"

"So, you're telling Haunter that this place don't belong to only them? That it's for everyone?" it was a shock for Meowth, he wasn't used to kindness like that. He had been planning on removing the Haunter completely, yet Pikachu seemed to want them to stay as well.

"Pika. Pika-pika!"

However, his cries weren't getting through to the Haunter. Meowth even commented on this. "They don't seem interested in hearing about getting along."

"Pikachu."

"I'm not so sure you should be saying those things," worried that what Pikachu was yelling would get them in serious trouble, Meowth tried to stop him. "It's not gonna do us one bit of good by trying to fight with them."

"Pika! Pika-Pikachu!"

"What are you talking about?! Somebody's gotta stand up for all these Pokemon!"

"Pikapi pikachu pika!"

"Ash would do it because it's the right thing?" Alright, that was a shocking thing for Meowth to hear. But it was expected out of the little mouse Pokemon, though he, himself, was shocked to use the twerp's actual name. Shaking his head, he yelled out. "Listen, I don't need to be lectured about some twerp!"

"Haunter…" came an unexpected voice. Turning, the Pokemon were shocked to see one of the Haunter preparing a Shadow Ball. Shooting it their way, Meowth and Pikachu were barely able to dodge the attack. Though, it angered Pikachu. Soon a Thunderbolt was being launched at the ghost/poison type Pokemon, yet they all dodged it safely.

Surrounding the two rival Pokemon, the Haunter chuckled and prepared a Night Shade attack to finish them off. Freaking out, Meowth began to fidget and yell. "This is gonna get a whole lot worse before it gets better…!"

Suddenly, Pikachu hopped onto Meowth's back and into the air. The motion had pushed Meowth under the attack and allowed Pikachu to dodge it himself. The fourth Night Shade attacks hit the four Haunter in super effective damage. Yelling his name, Pikachu set off a Thunderbolt attack and finished the job. It caused them all to flee anyway. Meowth was suddenly very energetic, yelling out. "We did it again, Pikachu!"

The Pokemon ran over, cheering loudly. But something they said caught Meowth's attention. "What, that wasn't enough for you?"

"Rattata-rat-rattata!"

"Really?" came the surprised response. "You want us to stay here and live with you guys forever and ever?"

"Rattata-rattata!"

"And you want us to be supreme leaders and take care of yous?"

"Pika!" came the yelled response from Pikachu, he would never leave Ash. Even to protect young Pokemon, he just couldn't. But the Pokemon were having none of it, cheering for them to be their leaders.

"Not a chance," Meowth said. "I happen to know someone else, who needs this Pikachu a lot more!"

The surprising response had made Pikachu smile, could it be possible that Meowth understood how Ash and Pikachu felt about each other? "Pika!"

"Sorry, but Team Rocket has already laid a claim to this cuddly yellow prize."

"Pika…" sighed the electric type, that was to be expected. Seconds later though, a metal sleeve was thrown that way and trapped him. Sighing, he frowned. This was so typical, he didn't even need to look to see who had locked the metal sleeve around him. "Pika…"

"About time, my buddies Jessie and James!" their balloon had arrived and was above them right now, giving Meowth a bright smile.

"We do stumble into the right place from time to time," Jessie smiled, though her voice was nervous like she was trying to hide something.

"Hold it right there!" her partner yelled, as she sent down another machine to grab and bring Meowth back up onto the balloon.

"It's about time!" he complained.

"Don't say I never did anything for you," Jessie tried to hide her original intention on just leaving Meowth to come back on his own accord. Turning to James, she said. "Now pull up Pikachu!"

With a nod, James did as he was told. "Activating our super electromagnet," a pull of a switch caused a magnet to drop out of the bottom of the basket. Due to the magnet tendencies of the metal sleeve around Pikachu, he was pull up and became trapped on the electromagnet. All of this was to the shock of the Pokemon he and Meowth had just protected.

Laughing, Jessie and James grinned. Meowth even joined in and said. "I hope you like heavy metal!"

"When it comes to sheer unstoppable grabbing grunt power, this amazing electromagnetic mechanized marvel is simply unmatched!"

"Wobba!" came the cry from the blue punching bag, hoping up behind Meowth and giving a salut.

"Pidgeot!" looking up, Team Rocket saw the flying/normal type coming their way and gasped when it ripped through the side of their balloon.

"Not now!" the balloon fell to the ground, as they screamed. As Ash and officer Jenny sped up, Ash gasped and saw the balloon.

Lunging out of the car, he yelled. "Pikachu!" he reached his buddy, still locked in the metal sleeve and was happy to be reunited. "Pikachu!"

"Pikapi!"

"Ah…" came a relieved chuckle of Ash, picking up the metal sleeve and snuggling against Pikachu's electric sacs. "Oh, thank goodness, Pikachu..."

"Pikapi!"

"You okay, I was worried about you."

"Pika-chu..."

Peeping over the top of their wrecked balloon, Team Rocket snarled and soon Jessie was yelling. "Hey, twerp. Why'd you go do that!?"

"Everything was going just swimming until you came along!" James added.

"And just when we thought we was taking off, we came crashing down…"

With a quick movement, Jenny yelled out them. "It's against the law to steal another's Pokemon and I won't stand for it!"

"You know how much I care what you stand for…" moving her fingers, Jessie made a tiny gap between her thumb and next finger along. "About this much, officer!"

"And that Pikachu goes with us!"

"Enough!" the blue haired member of Team Rocket yelled, before reactivating the electromagnet. "Our electromagnetic machine will do the talking!"

Trying to hold on, Ash was being dragged towards the machine in his attempts to hold Pikachu close. "I'll save you," he tried to promise, even though he could feel the strength of the magnetic field himself. "Don't…you…worry!"

Turning up the power, Ash could barely keep ahold of Pikachu's metal coating any longer. Even though he tried to yell out. "I'm not gonna let go!" the suction force even revealed the Haunter from before, who had been hiding behind some nearby metal drums. One of those metal drums hit Ash and was enough to give the final push for Ash to let go.

"Pika!" the loud pained cry came, as Pikachu slammed into the electromagnet and began to absorb its electrical energy. He groaned in pain, but Team Rocket gave no care. "Pika-aa!"

"Pikachu!" Ash gasped, worried for his friend's safety. "Pikachu!"

Hearing Pikachu's screams shocked the Haunter, who looked at each other for certainity before moving forward. Even one of the Rattata charged forward and hit the electromagnet with Super Fang, breaking it and freeing Pikachu. Noticing this, Ash ran over to his injured friend and held him close as Jessie yelled. "Oh, so you wanna play a little hardball? – yeah fine!"

Their attempts to run forward were blocked by the Haunter, who began to use Night Shade attack to protect Ash and Pikachu. Night Shade hit the electromagnet's metallic surface and created a huge explosion that sent Team Rocket. "Blasting off again!"

"We did it!" Ash cheered, holding his weak friend as the Pokemon began to cheer around him. With some small coaxing from Pikachu, Rattata and Haunter even shook hands to say a good job done and that they could get along.

Jenny walked over and said. "Well, at least something good has come out of all of this. Looks like those two have become fast friends."

* * *

Back on the ship at sunset, Misty ran over to Ash – the boy having just arrived, riding on Pidgeot, with Pikachu in his arms - and hugged him once he had landed. "Oh, thank goodness, you're alright. I was so worried that you wouldn't make it back! How's Pikachu?"

Ash smiled, glad that his best human friend cared about him so much. "Pikachu will be fine."

Nightfall hit soon enough, and they were preparing to sleep. Pikachu and Togepi had already fallen asleep and Ash and Misty were chatting. Giving a soft smile, Misty spoke calmly. "Pikachu had a big day today, he must be so tired…"

"Yeah, he deserves a good rest…" he gently pulled the blanket over the sleeping Pokemon. Shortly after, both he and Misty also fell back to sleep. They were tired from the events – Misty's exhaustion had come from worrying about Ash all day, plus trying to keep track of Togepi on a giant ship was very fun (Not) - and deserved a good rest of well.

* * *

"Finally, the Hoenn region!" Ash said, as he looked on to see the upcoming land. They were on the deck, having been watching for land ever since they found out that they'd arrive by morning.

"And lots of new Pokemon for us to catch!" Misty smiled, hugging Togepi in her arms. "Plus, lots of new rivals for you to battle against!"

They ran back inside to collect Pikachu and Misty's poke balls, as Hoenn's water types began to collect around the ship. Pelipper and Wingull flew ahead, with the fins of Sharpedo and Wailmer came from within the waters below. Arriving back in their room, they saw Pikachu still asleep on the bed. Ash called out. "Pikachu, Pikachu…Wake up!" no response, but he didn't give up in his energetic mindset after seeing the new Pokemon. "You gotta see this, we're in the Hoenn region."

As Ash tried to wake him up vocally, Misty gently reached over to shake him away physically. But was shocked when static electricity came over his body and near burnt her fingers. Now looking at the electric mouse closely, he seemed to be shaking violently with static volts shooting from his electric sacs. "Pikachu, what's wrong!?" Ash gasped, worried that his friend might be seriously hurt or ill. "Are you okay?!"

Misty, despite the electricity, managed to feel Pikachu's forehead and gasped in horror, recoiling her hand as it got burnt by the static. "He's burning up, Ash! He must have a bad fever!"

Horrified, Ash tried to call to his ill friend. "Pikachu, hey. Can you hear me, buddy!? Pikachu!"

* * *

Hope you liked this rewrite of the episode 'Hoenn Alone'...or I suppose it should be called 'Hoenn Together' in this story *Chuckle*.


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